“I was ready to get out here because I missed so much time,” said the first-round cornerback, who made his debut Wednesday after sitting out offseason workouts because of pre-draft surgery on his left wrist.

“I got up around 6 this morning, much earlier than normal. I was just lying on the bed because I couldn't sleep.”

Two hours later, Claiborne was on the field, where he struggled at times to shake off the rust he accumulated during his layoff.

The sixth overall pick whiffed on a couple of punts, bobbled some others and nearly dropped a ball thrown by a coach during a hands drill.

“Anytime you come off months of laying back like that, you're going to have a little rust,” Claiborne said. “I'm not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. I know I've got some work to do.”

No. 2 quarterback Kyle Orton welcomed Claiborne with a deep ball on the first pass of 7-on-7 drills. Rookie receiver Tim Benford got past Claiborne but couldn't make the grab.

Orton's deep ball also served as a message to Claiborne that he can expect to be challenged early and often by Eli Manning when the Cowboys open on the road against the Giants.

“I know they're coming,” Claiborne said.

Claiborne readily admitted he needs to improve his conditioning.

“You can go out and run 1,000 laps, but when you come back and play football, you're still not going to be in football shape,” he said. “So it's going to take some time to get used to that. We've got these three days here, so hopefully when everyone reports (in Oxnard, Calif.), I'll be good.”

From a mental standpoint, Claiborne looked sharp after shadowing plays from the sidelines during the offseason practices.

“It's hard to estimate how behind he is,” coach Jason Garrett said. “He is a rookie trying to play in the NFL. This is his first practice. We had 12 practices in the spring, and he missed all of those.

“But we will practice tomorrow, practice on Friday, then go to camp and start up again on Monday, so he will get a lot of work in a short period of time.”

Sporting a brace he'll wear throughout the season, Claiborne said his wrist wasn't a problem during practice.

“The brace they got for me is pretty handy, and I didn't feel anything,” Claiborne said.